


you'll be painted

by sappycinnamon



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Character Study, Childhood Memories, Kyoshi Warrior Sokka (Avatar), M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28350336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sappycinnamon/pseuds/sappycinnamon
Summary: Zuko doesn't expect Kyoshi island to bring back memories he thought he buried. He also doesn't expect to fight Sokka in Kyoshi-warrior getup.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 42





	you'll be painted

The island-village of Kyoshi was small, and Zuko knew that finding the avatar wouldn’t take long. He could picture the young monk flying into battle, ready to protect the puny, insignificant island from him and his men. He watched his soldiers march ahead of him, ready to wreak havoc among the sturdy wooden huts. A pair of them had already gathered around a decaying statue of an imposing, face-painted woman, preparing to burn it to ashes. 

An eerie silence had overcome the village, the kind of uneasy stillness of pre-battle that Zuko recognized as a ghostly greeting of sorts. This time, however, he could sense a difference in his welcoming. With his unscarred ear, Zuko could hear the steady flow of ocean waves in the distance, lapping against the shore like a memory that lingered at the edge of his mind. 

“Don’t you just love the ocean, Zuko?” 

He remembered his mother sighing contentedly, a gentle breeze blowing her long, dark hair around her face in a lazy dance. He was sitting beside her, and their bare feet touched the imaginary line where damp, sludgy sand met the edges of the sea. 

Zuko had shrugged in response, not really understanding her fascination. He only tolerated their family vacations on Ember Island because he loved the way her eyes were never fearful while she was near the azure waters. Here, she was somewhat happy. 

“Why do you like being near the ocean so much, Mother?” 

“Hmm,” she muttered thoughtfully as she watched the golden sunset. “Because the ocean is free. It is an adventure. All you need is a boat, and some courage, and you could go anywhere you’d like.”

Zuko felt his eyebrows furrow as the lilts of his mother’s voice slipped back into the pools of his mind. He had not thought about her love of the ocean for a long time. She would have loved living in a place like Kyoshi, he realized bitterly. 

Suddenly, he registered the blurry image of someone speeding towards him, effectively snapping his thoughts back to the present. Quickly clamping his hands into fists, he aimed streams of fire at the attacker. His opponent swiftly dodged each strike, launching herself into the air with an agility comparable to that of Ty Lee’s. Zuko quickly pulled the reins, whipping the rhino’s tail square into the attacker’s chest. She fell to the ground with a painful thud, her tessens laying out of reach. 

Now that she was down and weaponless, it was his chance to execute the finishing blow upon his attacker. His fingers buzzed as he gathered the energy to bend a column of fire in her direction. For some pointless reason, Zuko realized that the soldier’s face paint was identical to that of the warrior woman’s statue he had seen. The only difference was that his attacker’s painted mouth was agape in terror as Zuko shot fire at her.   
With somewhat clumsy movements, another similarly armored soldier charged forward to protect the fallen soldier. Zuko’s attack was blocked and the flames dispelled briskly away from his target. 

The protector’s determined blue eyes met his, creased browns framing their startling color. Zuko knew it was foolish to think so, but they flashed in a way that was oddly captivating, and strangely familiar. 

It was at that moment of distraction that another soldier sprang into action, kicking him off his rhino and onto his back. 

“I guess training’s over,” Zuko overheard from behind him. He was definitely losing his mind. That was a male’s voice, and one he’d heard before. 

The soldiers wasted no time as they flocked around him, ready to fight. He glanced at the three soldiers, and positioned himself in a bending stance. He swiveled around sharply, flames emanating from the curves of his feet. The other two were knocked down quickly, but the blue-eyed soldier was able to evade his advance for a bit longer, as if he were somewhat accustomed with his movements. This gave Zuko just enough time to scan his face and realize that he had not imagined the voice or the eyes of the southern water tribe warrior, the avatar’s raucous bodyguard. For some unfathomable reason, he had been fighting with face-paint and women’s battle armor. What in agni’s name was he thinking?

Zuko shook his head, positioning himself in another fighting position. He needed to focus. Why should he care about the water tribe peasant that wanted to dress up? He had more important things to accomplish. 

****  
Zuko was relieved that he didn’t have to destroy all of Kyoshi. He could almost feel his mother’s spirit drawn to the waters there, and he didn’t want to spoil everything that reminded him of her. As his ship sailed out into sea to trail the avatar’s bison, Zuko couldn’t help but think how the few happy memories he had with his mother were tainted by his banishment. His father had set out to ruin everything that his mother had loved with his cruelty. His banishment had made Zuko come to loathe the ocean that his mother had loved. 

Separated from the crew and Uncle Iroh, Zuko looked out and watched the ocean once more. The sun was setting, and the reddish sky glowed against the deep blueness of the ocean. 

At that moment, Zuko remembered the way the water tribe warrior’s red face-paint had contrasted with his wide blue eyes. Beautiful like the sunset, his mind supplied. He let the image drift around shamelessly in his mind, just for a little while. He thought about expressive eyes lined in thick kohl, painted brows arching elegantly over crimson eyelids. His full lips tinted near-black, poised in a warm grin just for Zuko. 

Zuko chuckled tonelessly as he rubbed at his temple. As if he could ever be on the receiving end of the water tribe warrior’s smile.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic that I ever completely committed to. I always found it interesting that Zuko sees Sokka for the first time wearing facepaint and fighting for the village, and then sees him again in an entirely different setting, but wearing facepaint and protecting Kyoshi. Decided to run with it and this was the result:)


End file.
